Aurora state lawmakers make case for expanded gun reform laws

AURORA | One day after a spate of hoax phone calls about school shootings sent students across the state into lockdowns, Colorado Democrats released a slate of bills to strengthen the state’s existing gun violence preventions.

Announced at a Thursday news conference, the four bills are:

• Senate Bill 168, which would make it easier for victims of gun violence and their families to sue gun manufacturers and sellers.
• Senate Bill 169, which would increase the minimum age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21.
• Senate Bill 170, which would strengthen the state’s existing Extreme Risk Protection Order law (colloquially known as the “red flag” law) to expand the list of who can petition for an extreme risk protection order to include licensed medical care providers, licensed mental health-care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys.
• House Bill 1219, which would increase the waiting period to deliver a firearm to three days after the initiation of a background check.

The additions to the red flag law come after a November shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs that killed five. Some of the shooter’s previous behavior raised questions about whether the attack could have been prevented if a red flag order was imposed.

Members of the Aurora delegation played a key role in promoting the bills, including Sen. Tom Sullivan, who was one of the prime sponsors on the bills to strengthen red flag laws and to increase waiting periods. Sullivan’s son, Alex Sullivan, was killed in the 2012 Aurora theatre shooting. Since joining the Colorado legislature he has been a prominent voice for gun safety legislation. In 2019, he was one of the prime sponsors of the bill that created Colorado’s red flag law.

Aurora state Rep. Mike Weissman sponsored the bill to strengthen the red flag law in the House, and Centennial Rep. Eliza Hamrick was a prime sponsor of the bill to increase waiting periods.

The bills were met immediately with criticism by Republican legislators, but since the Democrats have an almost veto-proof majority in the legislature this session conservatives are unlikely to be able to defeat them.

In a statement, minority leader Mike Lynch (R-Wellington) described the legislation as “anti-freedom” and “anti-Colorado.”

“We must care about addressing the issue of gun crimes while also recognizing the utmost importance of protecting and honoring the liberties outlined in the constitution,” he said.

In an interview with the Sentinel, Sullivan said that the bills are important additions to the work that’s already been done, but more is needed.

“These bills are the next step in what we’re planning to do here in the state of Colorado and hopefully we have the opportunity to do that next year” as well, he said.

Along with his work at the Capitol, Sullivan also recently started a Small Donor Committee to raise money for candidates focused on gun violence prevention.

Named Sully’s Action Fund in honor of his son, the committee will focus on electing more “gun violence prevention champions” to the state legislature.

“To end the daily pain of gun violence in our communities, we need more people down at the capital who are willing to have a daily conversation about gun violence prevention, the same way we talk about taxes and roads, and not just when it is politically popular in the wake of a mass gun violence tragedy,” Sullivan said in a Feb. 8 email announcing the committee.

He said that the daily public health crisis of gun violence requires a sense of urgency, and that more people are needed at the capitol to focus on the work.

“We need more than nodding heads and smiles, we need somebody to actually bring forth legislation, debate it, and get other pieces of legislation passed,” he said.